Gompers Houses

Samuel Gompers Houses, also known as Gompers Houses, is a public housing development built and maintained by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) on the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Pitt Street between Delancey and Stanton Streets. Gompers Houses is composed of two 20-story buildings with 474 apartments that house approximately 1,116 people. It is built on a 3.7 acres (15,000 m2) site bordered by Stanton Street to the north, Columbia Street to the east, Delancey Street to the south, and Pitt Street to the west.[3]

"Samuel Gompers Houses" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Samuel Gompers House.
Gompers Houses
NYCHA property
Gompers Houses in 2013
Location in New York City
Coordinates: 40.7181°N 73.9819°W / 40.7181; -73.9819
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CityNew York City
BoroughManhattan
Area
 • Total0.005 sq mi (0.01 km2)
Population
 • Total1,168 [2]
ZIP codes
10002
Area code(s)212, 332, 646, and 917
Websitemy.nycha.info/DevPortal/

History

The development is named after Samuel Gompers (1850–1924), an Englishman who immigrated to the United States in 1863, where he was a cigar maker, labor unionist, and workers' rights activist, who founded an organization that would eventually become the American Federation of Labor.[3][4] In his early life, Gompers lived three blocks from the site.[5]

NYCHA broke ground for the development in 1961[5] and the project was completed on April 30, 1964.[3] The development was designed by Lama, Proskauer, & Prober.[6] The relatively high cost of land for the Gompers Houses development, $13 per square foot, forced the New York City Housing Authority to build twenty story towers rather than the preferred six story buildings.[7] As with many of the housing projects built on the Lower East Side in the 1950s and 1960s, Gompers Houses is built in the "tower in the park" style.[8]

By the mid-1970s, the development and the Lower East Side were becoming increasingly dangerous, so much so that in 1974 Mayor Abraham Beame had a publicized walking tour to persuade residents the area was safe from crime.[9]

The development is consolidated with Rafael Hernandez Houses, Lower East Side I Infill, and Max Meltzer Tower.[3]

Minerva Montez is the Resident Association President for Gompers Houses.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Gompers Houses Area". Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  2. "Gompers Houses Population".
  3. "Gompers, Samuel Houses". NYCHA Housing Developments. New York: New York City Housing Authority. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  4. "What's in a Name". About NYCHA. New York: New York City Housing Authority. Archived from the original on May 19, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  5. "Meany Prods U.S. on Jobless At Gompers Houses Ceremony". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  6. "Lama, Proskauer, & Prober". Emporis.com. New York: Emporis Corporation. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  7. Bloom, Nicholas Dagen (2008). Public housing that worked: New York in the twentieth century (illustrated ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 154–157. ISBN 978-0-8122-4077-1. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  8. Morrone, Francis (January 24, 2008). "Pearls of Pitt Street". The Sun. New York: TWO SL LLC. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  9. "Beame Strolls Streets To Show They're Safe". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  10. "Manhattan South District CCOP Office". Residents' Corner. New York: New York City Housing Authority. Retrieved January 16, 2010.

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